Botswana President Festus Mogae in an interview during the Commonwealth Summit in Nigeria on Saturday said that he was concerned that U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could be "diverting crucial money" pledged by the Bush administration to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. Botswana is among the 12 African countries targeted by President Bush's five-year, $15 billion global AIDS initiative.

Eighteen months ago Botswana became the first African country to offer antiretroviral drugs to everyone for free. A huge amount of cash has been dedicated to the cause, but money cannot buy the workers so desperately needed. The government is desperately negotiating with China and Cuba to get more doctors, but existing staff are simultaneously being lured away by agencies in the West. Last year, Botswana lost 120 of its nurses to the UK.

The Botswana government has defended its decision to axe the phone-in section of the popular radio show Masa-a-sele (Morning has broken), amid concerns it was taken off the air because it allowed callers to voice criticism of the authorities.

In a rather peculiar way, Botswana has been sharply put in the spotlight by the greenhorn-South Africa - in her ‘shoddy’ treatment of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), and its holders. This emerged at a three-day workshop on intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge systems.

Botswana's successful efforts to preserve its natural resources, notably by working with neighbouring countries, drew praise November 13 at an international conservation symposium held in Washington. "It would be hard to find a country which has been more successful in establishing a transparent, active, professional governance in the last several years than Botswana has been in dealing with their assets and in dealing with their problems," Senate Africa Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander told the "Conservation Is Good Business" symposium.

This series of three feature stories with pictures from the World Health Organisation is about people living with HIV/AIDS. Each story is very different. Some tell a tale of people struggling with the debilitating effects of HIV and the fear of an early death. Other stories are much more positive. Thanks to a breakthrough in the delivery of antiretroviral medicines, individuals are not only beating HIV, they now have renewed hope for the future, for themselves and for their families.

Although Botswana, one of the African countries hit hardest by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, offers free antiretroviral drugs, has 16 treatment facilities and hundreds of trained doctors and nurses, the nation is "barely making a dent" in fighting the disease. However, a new initiative to provide HIV tests as part of routine medical checkups in public and private clinics may help to improve HIV testing rates in the country.

The project reported here investigates what role new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may play in small enterprise development in Africa. Drawing on field research in Botswana, the project analyses the information and communication needs of these enterprises and assesses opportunities for ICT application.

In a bid to encourage people to begin anti-Aids treatment early, Botswana will introduce routine HIV testing at all public health facilities next year, President Festus Mogae said.

A small and quiet academic debate threatens tribal peoples around the world. It is largely sparked by the plight of the Gana and Gwi “Bushmen” in Botswana who are being forcibly removed from their lands, many think to clear the area for eventual diamond mining. A handful of anthropologists now oppose indigenous peoples' struggle for their land rights, especially in Africa but also more generally.

The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP) project leader, Dr. Donald de Korte, has said that Botswana will have about 200,000 orphans in 2010 if the current situation is not reversed.

HIV-positive women in Botswana have created an innovative support network through which newly diagnosed women receive individual care and companionship from other women living with the virus. Traditional care programmes often focused on treatment and counselling services, without taking into account something as simple as support in the form of friendship, delegates attending the 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) heard on Monday.

Police in Blantyre arrested Frank Namangale on September 16. Namangale, a reporter with the "Daily Times" newspaper, was arrested on charges of "publishing false information likely to cause fear and alarm to the public". Namangale was released on bail later the same day.

The paramount chief of the Batawana tribe, Tawana Moremi, physically attacked Booster Galesekegwe, a photojournalist from the weekly "Mmegi" newspaper, and broke his camera on September 6. Moremi also attacked Kagiso Sekokonyane, acting editor of "Mmegi Monitor", "Mmegi"'s sister newspaper.

HIV/AIDS should be looked at as a "social issue, not just a medical one," according to participants attending a conference on the impact of the epidemic on women that opened last Tuesday in Botswana.

Botswana's antiretroviral Aids therapy programme last week launched a tool designed to teach Batswana about HIV/Aids and get more communities talking about treating the disease.

When the traditional leopard skin, the sign of authority, was draped around her shoulders at the weekend, Kgosi Mosadi Seboko not only became the paramount chief of Botswana's Bagamalete people, but also a powerful symbol of change for women. A woman has never assumed the position of a paramount chief. Traditionally women were not even allowed to attend the village kgotla (Setswana word meaning village meeting) unless they were invited to give evidence during the settlement of disputes. The ascension of Kgosi (chief) Mosadi to head a Kgotla has therefore broken new ground.

Vice President Lt-General Seretse Ian Khama this week became the new national chairman of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), sweeping aside incumbent Ponatshego Kedikilwe in a landslide election victory. The emphatic win at the BDP's congress on Tuesday makes Khama, a relative newcomer to the party, an almost certain bet to succeed President Festus Mogae as the BDP's presidential candidate after the 2004 general elections.

Media activists in Botswana have again raised the alarm over a proposed draft communications bill which they say will pose a serious threat to freedom of expression and the free flow of information.

At least ten Bushmen from Molapo, in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana, have been charged with entering a game reserve without a permit, according to Survival International. Botswana police issued the charges on June 16.